Cruise Ships Banned in Key West

[Biotech Diver]

I'm gonna play 'devil's advocate'. Many of the cruisers choose that form of vacation because it's the only way they can afford to ever visit places like Key West or St Martin for half a day. I wonder where those tourism dollars would go if the cruise industry dried up - and it very well might in light of COVID and the new realization that those kinds of things can and do happen all the time.

You are right. Although I personally have never done a cruise because I don’t want to spend more than 8 hours in a port and don’t want to spend my whole vacation sitting on a deck chair, a lot of people like that type of vacation. It’s the only way people without a big budget can see those places.

Key West really doesn’t do it for me. I can fly to anywhere in the Caribbean or upper South America in less time than it takes me to drive to Key West. I could spend considerably less on lodging at a significantly better hotel in the Caribbean than in Key West and have better diving and local food for less.

 

[Biotech Diver]

I think it's a win, I've never lived in a cruise ship place but I gather the are a lot like casinos, I lived close to them.

With casinos they bring in revenue but the actual cost to the community is actually higher than the amount brought in.

And then you have the environmental impact of these things. I say turn them all into artificial reefs

I just read a news article about all the cruise ships being broken down for scrap in Turkey.

 

[scubadada]

I would imagine that this is a tough choice for any location that has become dependent on the cruise ship industry and has changed in response to that dependence. I'm only very familiar to two locations, Cozumel and Bonaire. Cozumel has chosen to start construction of a 4th cruise ship pier, specifically designed for the largest cruise ships. I can't help thinking that this will continue to degrade the experience on that beautiful island. Bonaire is much less dependent on the cruise industry, but I have see the presence increase over the years and the cruise industry is part of Bonaire's economic development plan. I can only hope that cruise ships, particularly larger ones, do not become commonplace in Bonaire. I don't spend much time in Kralendijk, but the snorkelers make it up to the Spice Club, just a short distance from our choice of housing at Den Laman and gorgeous Bari Reef.

 

[Oldbear]

Multiple uses of limited resources by different users with different perspectives...it is always a difficult discussion.

 

[Tom Winters]

No cruise ships in Key West? That is indeed good news.

 

[lowwall]

Cruise ships are ecological disasters. They are massive polluters and do physical damage to shallow undersea environments around the ports.

If they went away, the tourist dollars would simply go somewhere else. The all-inclusive industry would certainly pick up. Actually I bet the main cruise companies would switch to being resort operators. Do you reslly think Disney wouldn't be able to figure out something comparably priced for their ex-cruisers to do?

 

[SoCalRich]

People create pollution, So biotech diver you are in boca raton spreading pollution? How Kalifornia of you.

 

[RKO]

Key West was a better place before the cruse ships started to port. Now Key West is so overcrowded, overpriced and commercialized, it's not a fun or relaxing place anymore.

 

[Knockneed Man]

When did cruise ships start coming there? I think I last visited around 2006 but used to go frequently. Don’t remember there ever being any cruise ships.

 

[NAM001]

Everyone wants their share of the cruise money. the real cost to KW will not bee seen for a while. then and only then they will find how much of their economy is based ont he cruise industry. and I have never seen anyone spend only 20 bucks in KW. I dont think that is even possible to do. One or 2 sites alone is 20 bucks. I would guess the avg would be more around 50-100. 20$ is a bit optimistic only for those that want the ships to go.

As I see the math a 2500passenger ship is about 50K a head fee for the 20 dollar thing. and another 200K per ship in tourist spending per ship per day. thats real money.